Mark, that's what our TI looks like almost every time we go out with a decent wind!

Cindy discovered the drier location is out on the upwind tramp, plus we go faster. That's why we've given up on camping with the TI; when ours gets soaked like that, lots of water gets through the hatches and we have to pump a lot out by the end of the day.

kinda strange, actually. We are big people, and we sail in rougher water than that first photo looks, quite often. I realize that still photos rarely show the waves very well, but something still looks odd to me. We never get that much water in, even when it's so windy we've left the tramps rolled up and reefed the sail.

Could something else be going on? Got some water in the hull? Where's the front Mirage drive? that hole is plugged up, right?

Wind was 25mph+ and comes right down the lake + motor boats make for a very choppy ride. We were getting slammed around like crazy. Mostly though the spray hits the Aka and water comes into the front seat. Once the front seat fills up, the speed seems to prevent drainage. Have to slow way down or stop to let it drain out. The good news, is the hatch seal worked well and no water below.

On a side note, I was getting lots of water below but now that I checked and tightened all hatches and reglued the front hatch almost no water at all. Not only did we have the front seat like that a couple of times the bow of the boat was under water quite a bit yesterday too.

When we returned to the boat ramp I did not notice the port stern Aka almost had pulled out (was about 1/2 way out). Do not know when that occurred. I will have to do a better job of keeping an eye out for that.

Our downwind ride back was awesome. 15 - 20 minutes of flying down the lake.

Great to hear you have a dry hull--I hate water in the hull. And, apparently, the front hatch did not leak, which I think is one more confirmation that the front hatch does not leak when the seals are working properly.

Question: Do you have the seat scupper plugs out? Usually higher speeds aid in draining a space via the scupper holes and other openings, like around the drive plug.

Keith

_________________"Don't kid yourselves, sharks are everywhere in the Everglades" Chekika

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

On my old AI, I used waterproof tape across the bottom foreward half of the scupper holes. I found that when I was moving fast, that the tape helped generate a 'venturi' effect and sucked water out better than leaving the holes fully open. I preferred having the scupper holes open for draining water that came over the sides, water pumping up the holes in big waves was always less than the water pouring over the sides. I wish that someone would manufacture a venturi pipe that could be inserted and fastened up through the scupper holes.

Keith I had them out but the amount of water simply was too much - plus the spray just kept if full. Didn't really impact anything but, for a few minutes we thought maybe we had an issue. We stopped, water drained, checked below, all was good. Away we went. It happened again a few minutes later but I did not worry about it. I thought it was an awesome ride. The TI is just too much fun!

Great shots Mark. While we are talking about hull sealing in general, I just noticed the other day when I was going over my new hull with a fine tooth comb, that if you open the front hatch and let the hatch lid rest on the strap, the strap goes across the seal and deforms it. I left mine open in this position for a couple of days so that the hull would dry out and noticed that the seal stayed deformed and therfore wouldn't seal properly. It reshaped itself over time but I don't know how long it took. Should have timed it. Worth noting ?

While we are on the topic of hatches. It seems like my seals on all hatches have expanded since last year. Is that possible? I was considering ordering new ones just in case. Good to know though - that the front seat hatch has a good seal on it. I would hate to have my hull full of water. I do carry a sponge + portable bilge pump if something should happen.

Keith I had them out but the amount of water simply was too much - plus the spray just kept if full. Didn't really impact anything but, for a few minutes we thought maybe we had an issue. We stopped, water drained, checked below, all was good. Away we went. It happened again a few minutes later but I did not worry about it. I thought it was an awesome ride. The TI is just too much fun!

I've had fairly good results with either the plug or the drive in place, keeping water out. The one time we tried sailing without the plugs in, we got too much water in the boat.

I must say I have spent a lot of time out in the sea and have taken the tandem into 3m swells, I have broken two rudders and bent two of the amer struts on the portside due to a very bad broach.In all these conditions I do not take on much water in the hull so there must be a problem. At one stage I was taking on water and I checked all the hatchers and could not find a problem, I then found a small hole in the forward mirage drive well which was caused due to the mirage dive resting on the hull on the aft side of the well, after I repaired that it has been pritty dry.